Category Archives: Victoria

Airshow reopens after crash leaves pilot fighting for life in Melbourne hospital

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Veteran pilot Glenn Collins was attempting a solo aerobatic manoeuvre at the Avalon Airshow when he lost control

Veteran pilot Glenn Collins has been identified as the pilot who is fighting for his life after crashing during an aerobatics display at the Avalon airshow in front of tens of thousands of spectators.

As Australia’s biggest airshow reopened on Saturday, Paul Bennet airshows confirmed Collins, who performed on its team, was the pilot involved in the crash.

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Avalon Airshow crash: aerobatic pilot critically injured after plane plummets to ground in front of shocked crowd

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Pilot lost control during an aerobatics display and crashed into tarmac at Avalon airport in Victoria

A pilot is in a critical condition after losing control of their plane during an aerobatics display at the Avalon Airshow and crashing into the tarmac.

Victoria police said the incident occurred on Friday at about 5.15pm on the first day of the airshow which is the largest in the southern hemisphere.

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Audience member dies during opening night of Melbourne international comedy festival

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A man watching a comedy gig has died after suffering a medical emergency in a packed theatre on the opening night of a major festival

A crowd of ticketholders watched on in horror as good Samaritans rushed to help a man who died on the opening night of a major comedy festival.

An audience member suffered a medical episode at the Palais Theatre in St Kilda on Wednesday night, organisers of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival said in a statement.

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Melbourne teenager charged with murder after machete attack

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Police allege victim, 24, was ambushed by up to 10 men and stabbed to death near Marriott Waters shopping centre on 14 March

An 18-year-old has been charged with murder following the fatal stabbing of a man by an alleged machete-wielding group amid plans to ban the weapon.

Timothy Leek was stabbed to death near the Marriott Waters shopping centre in Melbourne’s south-east on the night of 14 March.

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Teenager who allegedly tried to force way on to Jetstar flight in Victoria charged with attempted hijacking

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The 17-year-old was originally charged with 12 Victorian offences but is now facing further federal charges

A 17-year-old boy who allegedly tried to force his way on to a Jetstar flight at Victoria’s second largest airport with a shotgun earlier this month, before being dramatically overpowered by passengers, is facing fresh commonwealth charges including attempted hijacking.

Police allege the boy climbed through a hole in a fence at Avalon airport, near Geelong, on 6 March before making his way on foot to the aircraft at about 2.20pm.

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‘Disgusting’ antisemitic tactics used to threaten exiled Hong Kong man in Adelaide, Jewish group says

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Exclusive: Ted Hui and Melbourne resident Kevin Yam are both subjects of anonymous letters and pamphlets mailed from Chinese-controlled territories

A prominent Jewish group has condemned a “disgusting” attempt to intimidate an exiled pro-democracy campaigner who fled to Adelaide from Hong Kong, with the federal opposition accusing a foreign actor of weaponising antisemitism.

Human Rights Watch said a separate attempt that encouraged people to inform on another dissident, Kevin Yam in Melbourne, was designed to make critics of the Hong Kong government feel “unsafe and hunted, no matter where they are in the world”.

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Victorian man charged for allegedly making death threats and antisemitic comments to federal MP

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Man allegedly contacted the MP using social media multiple times between 7 January and 19 February this year

A Victorian man has been charged for allegedly making death threats and antisemitic comments to a federal member of parliament.

The 41-year-old was charged on Tuesday afternoon after the Australian federal police conducted a search of his home in the Melbourne suburb of Officer, the AFP said in a statement.

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Woman who planned to sell human toes regurgitated by dogs avoids jail in Melbourne court sentencing

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Joanna Kathlyn Kinman, 48, was working at an animal shelter when she found body parts of dogs’ owner who had died of natural causes

A woman who planned to sell human toes on an online black market after dogs regurgitated them has avoided jail “by the barest of possible margins”.

Joanna Kathlyn Kinman was employed at a Victorian animal shelter as a ranger when two dogs vomited up the toes and other remains in February 2024.

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Mentally unwell woman in solitary confinement for almost a decade ‘an emergency situation’, Victorian judge warns

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Psychiatrist describes the detained woman at Thomas Embling hospital as one of the most unwell patients in the state

One of the most mentally unwell patients in Victoria will deteriorate further if she continues to be held in solitary confinement, where she has been detained for almost a decade, a court has heard.

Victorian county court judge Nola Karapanagiotidis heard a major review on Wednesday of the detention of the woman under the Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act.

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Spiritual healer who served magic mushrooms at Victorian retreat where woman died escapes drug trafficking conviction

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Deanne Mathews fined $3000 after pleading guilty to trafficking psilocybin at Clunes wellness retreat where Rachael Dixon fell ill and died

A woman has admitted serving up magic mushrooms at a spiritual retreat where a participant died, leaving court without a conviction recorded for drug trafficking.

Spiritual healer Deanne Mathews, 53, was fined $3000 after she pleaded guilty to the single charge at Bacchus Marsh magistrates court on Wednesday.

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Labor’s ‘devastating’ bail laws overhaul sparks outrage from legal, human rights and First Nations groups in Victoria

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Proposed changes, which include scrapping principle of remand as ‘last resort’ for youth, condemned as ‘backwards step’

Legal, human rights and First Nations groups have condemned the Victorian government’s overhaul of the state’s bail laws, which will force the courts to treat children accused of serious crimes like adults when deciding whether to remand them or release them into the community.

The premier, Jacinta Allan, on Wednesday announced proposed changes to the Bail Act that would result in more unsentenced people who have not been convicted of a crime being remanded in custody.

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Australia’s smaller airports rife with vulnerabilities, former Qantas security head says, after alleged gunman boarded Jetstar flight

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Much of the security is on the passenger side of the terminal, Geoff Askew says, not on the tarmac

Australia’s smaller and regional airports are rife with security vulnerabilities, industry insiders have warned, after the dramatic citizen’s arrest of a teenager who allegedly boarded a Jetstar flight with a shotgun and ammunition.

Police charged a 17-year-old Victorian boy with a range of offences, including unlawfully taking control of an aircraft, orchestrating a bomb hoax and possessing a firearm.

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Teenager charged after allegedly boarding Jetstar flight with ‘large gun’ at Avalon airport

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Police charged 17-year-old with unlawfully taking control of an aircraft, orchestrating a bomb hoax and possessing a firearm

A teenager who allegedly tried to force his way on to a commercial flight at a Victorian airport before being dramatically overpowered by passengers was due to face court on Friday charged with a string of offences.

Police were called to Avalon airport near Geelong, in Victoria, on Thursday afternoon after reports a male wielding a firearm had attempted to board the Jetstar flight.

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‘You just hope for the best’: rarely seen froglets – the length of a grain of rice – released into small patch of Victorian wilds

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Exclusive: More than 3,000 critically endangered Baw Baw frogs set free in a high-altitude forest to bolster dwindling population

More than 3,000 critically endangered Baw Baw frogs have been released in Victoria’s east as part of a record-breaking conservation breeding program.

Zoos Victoria’s reintroduction of 3,000 tiny froglets and 40 adult frogs into the high-altitude forests of the Baw Baw plateau, about 120km east of Melbourne, was the largest in its breeding program for the species.

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Crisafulli urges residents to prepare as storm approaches – as it happened

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This blog is now closed. Read the latest Cyclone Alfred news update here

Sandbag queues ‘about an hour’ in Brisbane – Wells

The federal sports minister, Anika Wells, also spoke on the Today Show this morning from Brisbane and said it was the “calm before the storm”.

At the moment that’s the shortest it’s been in 24 hours. It’s a big couple of days ahead for south-east Queensland. We’re more than up to the task, but everybody’s doing their bit.

So everyone’s doing their bit and we thank them for it.

We know that there’s going to be damaging winds, there is going to be powerful surf, coastal erosion, and it will be followed by significant rain that can last a couple of days. So we’re really urging people to be alert, to be prepared, just like the SES is.

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Affluent suburbs targeted in Victorian government move to seize planning controls to build more homes

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South Yarra and Windsor among 25 new ‘activity centres’ identified by Labor for higher-density housing

The Victorian government has announced affluent suburbs such as Prahran, South Yarra and Windsor are among the final 25 areas where it will seize planning controls in an effort to increase housing density.

Two local government areas – Melbourne and Yarra – have also been named “city-wide activity centres” to allow for the rezoning of under-utilised areas.

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Man allegedly behind Melbourne’s ‘Pam the Bird’ graffiti bailed to live with ‘no nonsense’ grandmother

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Jack Gibson-Burrell, 21, released after flagging he will fight more than 50 offences and being accused of painting on Melbourne landmarks

A Melbourne man alleged to be the creator of the prolific “Pam the Bird” graffiti has been released back into the community to live with his grandmother in Geelong, who has warned it is “my house, my rules”.

Jack Gibson-Burrell’s legal team successfully argued for their client to be granted bail under strict conditions including not possessing abseiling-related equipment or graffiti implements, a night-time curfew, $30,000 surety and residing with his grandmother.

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Australia news live: Woodside doubles profits thanks to record production of oil; funnel-web spider shortage threatens antivenom program

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Australia’s largest oil and gas producer has doubled its profits to $5.6bn. Follow today’s news live

Senate estimates will be back under way today, and AAP has flagged a little of what we can expect:

Creative Australia bosses, including the chief executive, Adrian Collette, will front an estimates hearing and it’s expected they’ll be questioned about the selection body’s shock decision to ditch the Venice Biennale team.

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Bold or a ‘capitulation’? Victoria’s premier claims Labor’s reworked building goals are still on target

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The final state housing targets have seen a reduction in numbers, but the overall goal of refocusing growth to Melbourne’s inner core remains

Reading the headlines, you’d be forgiven for thinking the Victorian government has capitulated again – this time on its bold housing targets.

But for the well-heeled residents of Brighton and Boorondara – some of whom who had sought to quash any changes amid cries of “shame, premier, shame” – it’s full steam ahead, at least in their suburbs.

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Australia news live: Jim Chalmers meeting with US Treasury to discuss Trump’s steel tariffs; one dead after police standoff in Tamworth

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The treasurer will continue to lobby US officials for an Australian exemption to steel and aluminium tariffs

Greens want Labor’s new Medicare plan implemented before election

The federal Greens have welcomed the Albanese government’s plan to significantly boost bulk-billing rates, as part of an $8.5bn policy, but claimed its campaigning influenced the decision.

Greens pressure works. In a wealthy country like ours everyone should be able to see a GP, psychologist, dentist or nurse with their Medicare card.

It’s good Labor has adopted part of our plan to help people see the GP for free. Now let’s make it law before the election.

Trade and tariffs will be part of the conversation, but not the whole conversation. That is an ongoing discussion that we’re having with our American counterparts. I don’t expect he will conclude those discussions on steel and aluminium while I’m in DC.

I am not going to pre-empt the outcome of those conversations, nor do I expect those discussions will necessarily be concluded this week, to be upfront with you.

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